Demon In Disguise

David Bromberg’s second album is dominated by the singer/guitarist’s own songs, but his original tunes often sound like they could have come from Harry Smith’s famed Anthology of American Folk Music. The fiddle- and mandolin-filled album opener, “Hardworkin’ John,” could easily have hailed from the traditional Southern string/jug-band repertoire that goes back to the 19th century. In fact, there’s even a Bromberg-penned tune here called “Jugband Song,” a bluesy affair full of acoustic guitar and mandolin fingerpicking that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a record by an old-school jug-band giant like, say, Gus Cannon. Members of The Grateful Dead back Bromberg on the more modern-sounding electrified outings, like the lascivious, blues-rock burner “Sharon” and the title track. A trio of cover tunes closes the album: the classic country ballad “The Tennessee Waltz,” folk-rock troubadour Jerry Jeff Walker’s signature tune “Mr. Bojangles,” and the Tut Taylor bluegrass instrumental “Sugar in the Gourd.” All three were recorded live, giving a glimpse at the kind of excitement and emotion Bromberg could kick up in front of an audience.